The EU has not been “sleeping and doing nothing” and has “opened an investigation into Meta for exactly the same suspicions”, Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier reacted on Thursday 27 August, following the $17 billion agreement concluded in the United States between Meta and 50 US states and territories aimed at curbing Instagram and Facebook for teenagers and reducing the time they spend on these social networks.
“We came last month to the conclusion that Meta, for both Facebook and Instagram, and their addictive design is in breach of the DSA (Digital Services Act). This is not a contest of who will issue the biggest fine. What we want - and this is also the objective of the social media panel - is to effectively protect our kids online. That is precisely the purpose of the ongoing work”, the spokesperson added.
Furthermore, since the announcement of the transatlantic agreement, the Commission “has had exchanges with Meta. Here, there is nothing new: this is a continuous dialogue we are having to offer at least equally good protection for our kids here in the European Union So work is ongoing on our side, and it has been intensive for quite a while now”.
“We expect proper screen time management and proper parental control on these platforms. (...) It is now for the company to propose these commitments within the European Union in order to protect our kids here too,” Thomas Regnier said.
The President of the Commission is in principle due to announce in September a system of restrictions applicable to minors’ access to social networks.
Fraudulent content. Moreover, the Polish minister responsible for the digital sector, Krzysztof Gawkowski, called on the European Commission on Thursday 27 August, in a letter published on X, to impose a penalty of €250 million on Meta because of the persistent dissemination of “advertisements harmful to Poles” and “fraudulent content”.
“I expect the European Commission to conduct the procedure swiftly and impose the penalty”.
To see the letter (in Polish): https://aeur.eu/f/n5p (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)